Cold, and more of it, in store for eastern U.S.

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Icicles form on a outdoor string of lights as temperatures struggle to get above freezing Tuesday in Houston.

Icicles form on the tritons in the Forsyth Park Fountain Tuesday morning, Jan. 2, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. Savannah is shivering through a rare bout with icy weather, with the National Weather Service predicting that up to 2 inches of snow and sleet could fall Wednesday on the typically balmy coastal city. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)

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Confetti left over from the New Year's celebration in Times Square is frozen in the snow along 42nd street on January 2, 2018 as New Yorkers return back to work after the holiday break. / AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Kevin Deiner of Erie, Pa., digs out his Ford Escape buried on West Sixth Street Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. Forecasters say 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall in most areas before the precipitation end by late Saturday afternoon. But several inches of snow were expected in Erie, which was under a lake effect snow warning issued by the National Weather Service. ( Jack Hanrahan/Erie Times-News via AP)

A layer of ice is broken into pieces floating along the banks of the Hudson River at the Palisades Interstate Park with the George Washington Bridge in the background, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, in Fort Lee, N.J. The Northern New Jersey region continued to experienced deep cold weather to start the new year. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Water is frozen on a tree in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Tuesday Jan. 2, 2018 after a resident left his sprinklers on. Temperatures are expected to stay below freezing at night for the Panhandle through Thursday morning. (Nick Tomecek/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP)

A man gazes over the partially frozen falls at the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, in Paterson, N.J. The Northern New Jersey region continued to experienced deep cold weather to start the new year. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Obdulio Arenas looks over the partially frozen falls at the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, in Paterson, N.J. The Northern New Jersey region continued to experienced deep cold weather to start the new year. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Star of Hope outreach case manager Kenneth DeVon, right, passes out blankets to the homeless as temperatures hover in the 30s Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018 in Houston. Plunging overnight temperatures in Texas brought rare snow flurries as far south as Austin, and accidents racked up on icy roads across the state. In the central Texas city of Abilene, the local police chief said more than three dozen vehicle crashes were reported in 24 hours. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Ice crystals form on a window in Lawrence, Kan., Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. Bone-chilling cold gripped much of the U.S. as 2018 began, breaking century-old records and leading to several deaths that authorities attributed to exposure to the dangerously low temperatures. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Water squirts from a frozen fountain near downtown in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. Temperatures plummeted overnight to 2 degrees in the north Georgia mountains, 14 in Atlanta and 26 as far south as New Orleans as the Gulf Coast felt more like Green Bay. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Commuters cross the Chicago River as they brave sub-zero temperatures to make their way to work in the Loop on January 2, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Record cold temperatures are gripping much of the U.S. and are being blamed on several deaths over the past week. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Commuters brave sub-zero temperatures as they make their way to work in the Loop on January 2, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Record cold temperatures are gripping much of the U.S. and are being blamed on several deaths over the past week. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Temperatures approach the high for the day 8 Fahrenheit (-13 Celsius) as the sun sets Monday, Jan. 1, 2018, behind downtown Kansas City, Mo. Bone-chilling cold gripped much of the central U.S. as 2018 began Monday, breaking low temperature records, icing over some New Year's celebrations and leading to at least two deaths attributed to exposure to the elements. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Icicles hang from the fountain at Beau View condominiums in Biloxi, Miss., on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018. A hard freeze hit South Mississippi overnight and temperatures are expected to remain near or below freezing for the rest of the week.(John Fitzhugh/The Sun Herald via AP)/The Sun Herald via AP)

Unforgiving cold has punished the eastern third of the United States for the past 10 days. But the most severe winter weather conditions yet will assault the area late this week.

First, a large and powerful storm will hammer coastal locations from Georgia to Maine with ice and snow. By Thursday, the exploding storm will, in many ways, resemble a winter hurricane, battering easternmost New England with potentially damaging winds in addition to blinding snow.

Forecasters are expecting the storm to become a so-called “bomb cyclone” because its pressure is predicted to fall so fast, an indicator of explosive strengthening. The storm could rank as the most intense over the waters east of New England in decades at this time of year.

In the storm’s wake, the mother lode of numbing cold will crash south – likely the last but most bitter in the series of brutal blasts since Christmas Eve.

The responsible storm is forecast to begin taking shape off the coast of Florida Wednesday, unloading hazardous snow and ice in highly unusual locations not accustomed to such weather. The National Weather Service has already posted winter storm watches from Lake City, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. It is then expected to explosively intensify, buffeting the Mid-Atlantic beaches and eastern New England, where winter storm watches have also been hoisted.

In Charleston, 1 to 3 inches snow and sleet is forecast Wednesday, where the Weather Service warns to “plan on difficult travel conditions.”

From Norfolk to the Maryland and Delaware beaches, including much of the southern half of the Delmarva Peninsula, 3 to 6 inches of heavy snow are predicted from Wednesday evening to Thursday afternoon.

Farther inland in the Mid-Atlantic, near Interstate 95, the storm’s exact track will be highly consequential. Current computer models suggest most – if not at all – snowfall will occur east of Washington and Baltimore Wednesday night into early Thursday. But small shifts to the west could bring some snow to these cities.

To the north, Philadelphia and New York have a better chance for a coating of snow, but – unless the storm edges closer to the coast – the more significant snows should remain to their east from Atlantic City to eastern Long Island where at least 3 to 6 inches could fall late Wednesday to late late Thursday.

By the time the storm reaches the ocean waters east of Long Island and eastern New England Thursday, it will be explosively intensifying. The storm’s central pressure will have fallen 55 millibars in just 24 hours – an astonishing rate of intensification.

“Some computer models are projecting a minimum central air pressure of below 950 millibars at its peak, which would be nearly unheard of for this part of the world outside of a hurricane,” writes Mashable’s Andrew Freedman. “For comparison, Hurricane Sandy had a minimum central pressure of about 946 millibars when it made its left hook into New Jersey in 2012.”

Winds will crank in response to this pressure drop, howling to at least 30 to 50 mph along the coast. Winds will be considerably stronger over the ocean – exceeding hurricane force – where enormous waves will form.

In Boston, the Weather Service is predicting not only 4 to 7 inches of snow but also winds strong enough to bring down trees branches. Throughout eastern Massachusetts and eastern Maine, the combination of wind and snow could create blizzard conditions, especially if the storms wobbles west.

The storm’s enormous circulation will help draw several lobes of the polar vortex, the zone of frigid air meandering the North Pole, over the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Friday and Saturday. Wicked cold air sourced from Siberia, the North Pole and Greenland will all converge on the region.

Temperatures are forecast to be 20 to 40 degrees below normal, the coldest of the winter so far. Most locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are predicted to set record cold high temperatures on Friday with highs in the single digits and teens.

On Saturday morning, subzero cold is forecast over almost all of New England, with single digits in the Mid-Atlantic. Winds, gusting to 30 mph, will make these areas feel 10 to 20 degrees colder.

Finally, after one of the most intense cold spells of such duration on record in parts of New England – including Boston, temperatures are forecast to gradually thaw by early next week.

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